Zeke Sanguine
Human male, born LY 875, in Sorret. Died 912, in Triscot. Sorreter, junior member of The Cabal. Little is known of Zeke's formative years, except that his parents died in a fire when he was about 12 years old. Though it remains unclear whether the fire was arson or accident, there have long been rumors that Zeke may have been responsible. This theory is generally refuted, as their deaths led to him becoming a street rat, though proponents of the rumors claim that's exactly what he wanted (so that he would be free to do whatever he felt like at any time). Regardless of whether he was involved in their deaths, it is now known that he became a psychopath, pyromaniac, and murderer. (There is some question as to whether the fire was a result of his pyromania, or whether it caused his condition. There is no question that he went on to kill many people in later years.) However, these traits remained well-hidden from most people who knew him, for many years. In 888, at the age of 13, Zeke made the acquaintance of a Sorreter named Durell, though exactly how this came to be is unknown. He was apprenticed to Durell near the end of that year, and graduated to adept status in early 899, at the age of 23. (It was also in 888 that Zeke introduced a girl named Faye to Durell and his wife Virtiana, who took Faye on as an apprentice, herself.) Zeke's favorite type of spell, predictably, was fireballs, which not only appealed to his love of fire, but was also one of earliest and simplest spells ever learned by the first generation of Sorreters. Zeke became probably the most proficient caster of fireballs ever known, developing an unparalleled ability to generate them quickly, in any size, and to hurl them in any direction (not necessarily a straight line), at any speed. His control was, in every aspect, masterful, even artistic. (It's said he could even control the shape of the flames, making moving fire sculptures.) His use of fireballs, of course, was far from the only spell he could perform, but most of his spells were among the basic variety, and he developed none of them so well as fireballs. He was known for having a certain degree of difficulty with some of the more complicated spells, which took him longer to cast than is generally the case with adept Sorreters. Most notable among this type of spell was translocation; Zeke's inability to quickly enchant a beacon led him to habitually carry a beacon he'd taken the time to enchant with his own molecular pattern, so that when he wanted to translate he could simply add a destination. This took him only an instant, but in the same amount of time, the average adept could enchant an ordinary object with his or her own pattern as well as the destination (assuming they had already memorized their own pattern and the destination coordinates). Zeke compensated for his lack of proficiency in translocation by often adding a flair of theatricality to it: He would form a protective force field around himself, and completely surround that field with fire, to mask his disappearance (and reappearance elsewhere). It is believed that his psychopathic nature, combined with his skill at creating fireballs, gave him a superiority complex. However, his inability to completely master more complicated spells gave him a simultaneous inferiority complex. Upon his graduation in 899, Zeke became one of Durell's earliest followers in support of The Plan. As per Merv's suggestion to Durell of sending Sorreters to work with the gangs which were then starting to expand, Durell sent Zeke (along with Merv) to Kimrin, where they both began to associate with Capp, who became the capo of LandOrder. It was in 900 that Zeke met a young adventurer from Triscot named Macen, to whom he taught various things. He also told Macen of the existence of the Plan. Later that year, Macen went with Zeke to Sorret, where Zeke introduced him to Durell and his son, Noson (Zeke was one of the few people to know, at the time, that Durell even had a son). The reason Zeke had decided to return to Sorret was that Capp had thrown him out of LandOrder, not wanting a psychopath among in his organization. (At this point Macen apparently didn't know Zeke was crazy, and if he ever figured it out, he didn't share Capp's qualms about it.) So Zeke, Macen, and Noson began traveling together for a time, and met various other people in various villages, who would become friends and allies (many of whom would later become contacts in the spy network Macen established). This included Tulo, who Macen liked for much the same reason he liked Zeke: both of them had started with nothing, and used their intelligence to make more of themselves. Even if he could never see either of them as his equals (being not only commoners but former street rats), he respected them more than he did many of his fellow nobles. It was most likely in 901 (possibly 902) that Macen introduced Zeke to his father, Xander, who himself soon became involved in the Coming of the Order. Macen's younger brother, Benj, however, took an immediate dislike to Zeke. He believed Zeke to be a bad influence on Macen, leading him down an evil path. But like his father, Benj believed in the goals of the Plan, and of course he had no say in who his brother chose to associate with. He tried to convince Macen there were other ways to contribute to the Plan than working with a psychopath, but Macen paid his warnings no heed. However, in late 902, he joined the army in Kimrin, becoming a military spy. Though he saw less of Zeke after that, the two remained close friends, and may have occasionally worked together. In 904, when the surname law was passed, Zeke chose the name "Sanguine." If anyone asked why, he'd say it was "because of my cheerful personality; also I like the color red." However, most people believe it's really because of his bloodlust. It was also in 904 that the Laser Plot was carried out. A terrorist attack which was originally blamed on the Protestant Movement, it would be discovered in 912 that it had actually been orchestrated by Zeke on behalf of The Cabal, in order to frame the Protestants. Zeke was reportedly killed by Tiejo Streetrat in 912. Apprentices *Helena Blood (app. 910-912) See also *Macen's spies Category:People